


of all the things you could do

by gunwoong



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Writing & Publishing, CW: Mild Drinking, CoWorkers to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Office Romance, i mean. it's lighthearted!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27806743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunwoong/pseuds/gunwoong
Summary: Kevin likes to think he's doing his best juggling a full-time job and a master's degree. And while it's a little ironic that he's selling romance when he has virtually no experience with it, that fact flies right over his head for the first few months.Then Lee Jaehyun happens.
Relationships: Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin
Comments: 47
Kudos: 132
Collections: Die Jungz Fest (R1)





	of all the things you could do

**Author's Note:**

> written for the following prompt:
> 
>  **Prompt #26 —** _Isn't it a little sad that an employee who works at a publishing company that specializes in romance novels has no experience with love or dating? Isn't it a little sad?_
> 
> not sure if the end result does the prompt justice but it sure was a ride writing these two. thank you to the prompter and to the die jungz fest mods for the lovely opportunity!!

**_of all the things you could do_ **  
**_you just had to say those words_ **

[♪](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6zNGc8uPxQ)

A very stressed Kevin Moon walks into a bar.

It’s not a joke, but Kevin thinks it could be one. Because it’s hilarious to think that he’d walk into a bar, to begin with—not his favorite hangout spot—, and it’s hilarious he’d choose to do so while under so much stress.

So to be more clear:

A very stressed Kevin Moon and his very persuasive best friend walk into a bar.

Chanhee has the ability to charm anyone’s ears off. Kevin has known him long enough to know that to be a maxim—Chanhee can convince anyone of anything if he really puts his mind to it. Maybe Kevin just thinks that because Chanhee can convince _him_ to do anything, but listen, Kevin is a non-confrontational guy, ok? That was part of the spiel his mom told the other moms at church when he was 9: Kevin is such a sweet kid, so _agreeable_ , so easygoing.

“I have no backbone,” he concludes, frustrated. “I’m a chicken. That’s it. I’m as malleable as, I don’t know. What’s malleable?”

“Gold,” Chanhee says, distracted. He’s guiding Kevin through the crowded bar, pink lips and bleached hair turning a few heads. 

Kevin tries not to think of what he’d give to be in a place with less drunk people per square feet. Chanhee might be used to the ogling, but Kevin can’t help but feel out of place. Just a tad bit. Just enough to know for sure that he’ll forever be the guy to suggest a night in instead of a night out.

“That’s us,” Chanhee announces, pulling Kevin towards a table closer to the small stage at the back of the bar.

Kevin recognizes the faces around the table, so he greets everyone—half-heartedly but still with a smile because he’s not a brute, thank you very much—and has no qualms pulling a chair and sitting down.

They’re in a group of five by then. Chanhee sits down next to him with a sigh, fixing his hair as he gives a cursory glance towards the guy playing the guitar on stage. Around the table are Haknyeon and Yuqi, currently so engrossed in a discussion they barely spare him a _hey_ in return for his greeting, and Jaehyun, elbows on the table and nursing a drink, watching the other two with an amused grin.

He turns the grin to Kevin, says, “Hey. Did they drag you here too?”

“Pretty much,” he replies, scanning the half empty glasses and bottles on the table. He raises an eyebrow at Jaehyun. “You too?” 

Jaehyun nods. It’s not hard to hear each other, exactly, but there’s enough chatter mixed with the music coming from the stage for them to raise their voices. The place is nice, and even though Kevin has never been here, he expected it to be. Chanhee would never drag him to a dump.

Speak of the devil, “No one was dragged,” Chanhee says, still looking towards the stage. “You came because you wanted to. Don’t even start.”

“You texted me like, fifteen times.”

“And you could have ignored it like you always do,” Chanhee counters. He finally looks back at them. “I think he still has a couple of songs to go through, you guys want anything to drink?”

Jaehyun shakes his head no, still halfway through his drink, while Kevin says, “Whatever you’re having.”

“Love it. Be right back.”

He’s up and gone in the blink of an eye. It’s not hard to follow his figure walking away towards the bar, as his blond hair stands out in the dark room. Kevin turns back to the table, starting to regret his impulsive decision to answer Chanhee’s texts earlier that night. 

The thing is, he had been stuck. For the sixth night in a row, he had been staring at the blank page of his Word document, watching the cursor blink in mockery at his utter failure to come up with even an opening sentence to what was supposed to be his final paper for that year. Chanhee’s texts were nothing more than an excuse to slap his laptop shut and walk out of the apartment like he could not wait to go to a crowded bar on a Saturday night.

So. Stress. Bar. Joke.

“Who’s that, anyway?”

He means the guy on stage, the one Chanhee had his eyes on. Jaehyun takes a sip of his drink, says, “I think he’s trying to introduce us.”

Kevin squints at the stage. The lighting isn’t the best, honestly, so all he can gather is that the guy looks sorta cute. From a distance. In the dark. 

“He sounds nice,” Kevin offers.

Jaehyun does half a pout, staring at his drink like he’s considering drowning in it if he has the chance.

“Of course she does!” Yuqi exclaims, loud enough that she seems to remember her surroundings. She turns to Kevin and Jaehyun, “Ginny deserved someone better than Harry, yes or yes?”

“They loved each other!” Haknyeon argues, and he sounds just as distressed as she does, like this is a matter of extreme importance. “Next you’re gonna say Hermione deserved someone better than Ron.”

“Maybe she did!”

Haknyeon’s gasp is so dramatic that Jaehyun snorts into his glass.

“You don’t like _Ron_? What’s wrong with you?”

“They’re gonna agree with me! Wanna see? Kevin,” Yuqi turns to him, dropping all honorifics like she always does when she’s too excited. “Yes or no, Ginny deserved someone better?”

“Is this about Harry Potter? Sorry guys, not really my thing.”

Both Yuqi and Haknyeon stare at him like he’s grown a second head. 

“Jaehyun,” Yuqi turns to the other with the same focused intensity. “Please don’t disappoint me. Yes or no, Ginny deserved someone better?”

“I like Harry,” Jaehyun says, shrugging. He starts to say something else, but then Yuqi interrupts him, then Haknyeon interrupts _her_ —thankfully, that’s when Chanhee comes back with two bottles of a fancy flavored beer, handing one to Kevin. 

“They’re still going on about it?” Chanhee asks, sitting down again.

“Apparently.”

“Remind me to never go out with the two of them again. No amount of free food is worth it.”

“As if they’re any different at work,” Kevin reminds him. “As if _you_ are any different.”

Chanhee smirks, guilty and very happy about it.

It doesn’t take long for the guy on stage to wrap up his performance, receiving a somewhat warm response, but nothing close to a standing ovation. It’s just a gig playing some music at a bar, and he knows it, if the megawatt smile he opens as he puts down his guitar is any indication. Soon he’s walking down the stage and making his way through the tables towards them, which is not something Kevin would have noticed on his own, but Chanhee is on his feet before the guy even gets there, greeting him with one of his most saccharine smiles.

“Guys, this is Jacob,” Chanhee says. “Hyung, these are the friends I told you about: Haknyeonie, Yuqi, Jaehyun hyung, and Kevin.”

He points to each one of them, and they greet Jacob in return. Kevin doesn’t miss the way Chanhee leaves him for last, or the way Jaehyun’s eyes dart curiously from Jacob to him. 

Huh.

“Nice to meet you all,” Jacob says. He sounds a little nervous, still smiling like he’s selling toothpaste, but he’s definitely cuter up close than he was up on the dark stage. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt or anything, but Chanhee asked me to come say hi…”

His eyes land on Kevin, and a small alarm goes off in Kevin’s head. He’s been in this position before. He might be tired, and stressed, and the beer might taste just bad enough to be good, but he can recognize a trap when he sees one. Especially one set up by Chanhee. 

“Please join us,” Kevin says, because that’s the polite thing to do, now that he’s starting to realize the poor guy might’ve been lured in under false pretenses. “Let us pay you a beer. For the good music.”

“Oh, it’s fine—I mean, sure, I can stay for a while, but you don’t have to.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Kevin says, standing up and ignoring Chanhee’s glare. “Please, have a seat. Jaehyun hyung here was just talking about that IU medley you did up there, weren’t you, hyung? He loved it.” 

Jaehyun blinks at him, caught by surprise, but he recovers fast enough. “Yeah. Yeah, I was. That was great.”

Kevin walks away towards the bar, leaving them to it. He stalls as long as he thinks he can while ordering a beer (a nice one, that tastes just like beer and not like some terrible fermented version of strawberry). He considers hanging out by the bar, but decides against it. He did promise the guy a beer, after all.

He’s not mad, mind you. He’s not angry at Chanhee for trying to introduce him to yet another one of his acquaintances—by the looks of it, some guy he met at church when he was 14. Kevin can’t really get mad at him for pulling this kind of stunt because he knows Chanhee means well. His heart is in the right place, as it usually is, and for all his pose and gravitas, Kevin knows Chanhee is really just a softie who wants to play cupid and find people their soulmates, if such a thing even exists. 

Kevin is not so sure it does, but he’s not gonna be the one to argue with Chanhee on that. 

So when he comes back to the table and finds Jacob engrossed in conversation with the others, he’s content. It’d be a stretch to say he’s happy, but content is good enough for Kevin right now. Really.

Jacob stays for the time it takes for him to finish his beer. He doesn’t ask for any number, and no one asks for his. By that time, it’s clear that there’s nothing much going on aside from friendly, if a bit awkward, conversation. 

He leaves, and so does Yuqi—her exit much less graceful, eyes glued to her phone as she stumbles out of her chair. They know all too well she’s always a text away from ditching everything she’s doing for her sad, unrequited crush. They don’t point that out, though. They’ve all been there. 

Kevin waits, nursing his second flavored beer, knowing what is coming.

“I just don’t know why you won’t give it a try,” Chanhee says.

There it is.

Kevin doesn’t immediately respond. Haknyeon is showing something to Jaehyun on his phone, and they’re laughing, but as soon as Chanhee speaks, Haknyeon looks up. He doesn’t say anything; it’s clear this is a conversation between the other two, but they’re obviously listening. They can’t _not_ listen. It’s a small table. 

And look, Kevin is tired. He’s trying not to think of the empty Word document waiting for him on his laptop while simultaneously trying to brave his way through this godawful beer. He doesn’t really care either way if they listen in or not. 

“Do you know how people get experience?” Chanhee turns to him, incensed enough that Kevin knows he’s crossed his alcohol intake limit of (1) beer per night. “By experiencing things. And I hope you know I wouldn’t throw you to the wolves. He’s a perfectly nice guy, Jacob hyung is. So nice he makes me sick. You’d love him.”

“As a friend, sure,” Kevin says. 

So, correction: Chanhee can convince him of _almost_ anything. 

Haknyeon pipes in, glancing up from the video on his phone, “You sure he isn’t straight, hyung? He looks like he might be.”

“He’s not. Do I look like I mingle with straight people? Do you really think that low of me?”

They laugh, because yeah, that’s absurd. So Jaehyun says, off-handedly, “I thought you were trying to set him up with me.”

“You can get Kevin’s hand-me-downs, I don’t care.”

“He’s not—” Kevin begins, but Jaehyun is laughing, so he lets it go.

They’re all tipsy enough to be mindlessly funny by now, particularly Chanhee, which renders them more laughter and a very heated discussion about the best flavor of ramen that gets both Chanhee and Haknyeon to defend their stances like presidential candidates in a TV debate. The night ends mostly the way it started, at least for Kevin—with them trying to navigate the crowded bar as Kevin wonders, for the nth time, why he agreed to any of it in the first place.

It’s when they’re standing up outside the bar, waiting for their respective Uber rides, that Jaehyun leans in and says, “Sorry. I really thought the set up was for me,” he explains at Kevin’s confused look. “I would’ve warned you if I thought it was for you.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Kevin almost lets a _love_ slip out at the end, as in, _it’s fine, love_ , but keeps it in just in time. They’re not close enough for endearments, even though they are, technically, coworkers standing shoulder to shoulder, slightly buzzed, on a casual night out. “I’m used to it. It’s pretty much an inside joke at this point.”

“That he wants to set you up with his friends?”

“That he wants to set me up with anyone. He thinks I could use some romance.”

“And do you?”

Jaehyun sounds genuinely curious. That’s when Kevin realizes two things: just how strange that sentence could sound, and just how much of a stranger Jaehyun really is, at the end of the day. They’ve been working together for half a year now, sure, but they haven’t interacted much. As a matter of fact, Kevin realizes now, he doesn’t remember ever going out with him like this, in a context that wasn’t for something strictly work-related.

“It’s complicated. I just—I don’t—” Kevin fumbles for the right words. Goddammit, weirdly flavored beers. “I don’t have a lot of experience. Bless Chanhee’s heart, but shoving nice strangers in my face isn’t the best way to change that. He’ll figure it out at some point.”

Jaehyun’s eyebrows shoot up. “You don’t have a lot of experience… with romance?”

“Yeah.”

Haknyeon calls Jaehyun just then, their ride having just arrived. Kevin watches Jaehyun hesitate, clearly hung up on their conversation, even more clearly ready to say something, but when Haknyeon calls him again, he just goes. He takes a few steps towards the car, then doubles back, opens his mouth to say something, gives up. Kevin laughs at his confusion, and when Haknyeon whines that he’s gonna leave him behind, that’s when Jaehyun finally leaves.

* * *

Kevin doesn’t really think about that interaction. He’s not embarrassed, both because he doesn’t think there’s anything to be embarrassed about, and because he barely knows Jaehyun, anyway. Sharing tidbits of his life with coworkers after a few drinks is the least of his problems, really. It’s not even a real problem. So he doesn’t lose any sleep over it.

Now, his paper, on the other hand, makes him lose enough sleep the following Sunday (when the closest thing he has to alcohol at home is the black tea he bought on a whim once) that when he walks into the office on Monday, he’s running on too little sleep and too much caffeine.

Jaehyun comes by his desk in the afternoon, as Kevin is trying to decipher what the message on his screen reads. There’s no amount of caffeine that can prepare him for the weirdness of social media management.

“Hey,” Jaehyun greets him with his signature kind smile.

“Hey you,” Kevin greets back. He doesn’t question why Jaehyun has decided to sit down at the empty desk next to his, still trying to decode if the person who messaged the company is a bot or not. “Can I help you with anything?”

He doesn’t mean to sound like he does online, when he’s managing their social media and using his customer service friendliness, but to be fair, that’s the only reason he can imagine Jaehyun would come find him: for a favor, or some work-related issue. Kevin’s desk is on the second floor, where the marketing, editing, and design teams are, while Jaehyun works somewhere on the third floor. Kevin has never been to the legal department, but he has been to HR, and he knows it’s right next door.

“I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Isn’t it a little sad?”

That gets Kevin’s attention. He looks away from the screen long enough to meet Jaehyun’s eyes with a confused frown. “What is?”

"That you’re working at a publishing company that specializes in romance novels. And you don’t experience romance yourself.”

Kevin blinks. That is so not what he was expecting of a Monday. 

“That’s none of your business,” is what he says. As kindly as he can but also not that kind because, seriously?

Jaehyun laughs, and to his credit, he sounds bashful. “I know. I don’t want to overstep, I’m sorry. I just mean, I got Jacob’s number, in case you want it.”

“I thought I made it clear I don’t.”

“Well—”

“And I thought _you_ wanted his number.”

“Yes,” Jaehyun says before Kevin can interrupt him again. “I did. That’s why I asked Chanhee for it. But I kept thinking about what you said that night, and I thought—”

“You thought wrong, love,” Kevin says. The _love_ this time isn’t an endearment. “I don’t want his number, you can have it.”

“Alright. Copy that,” Jaehyun nods. He looks down, licks his lips. He looks a little embarrassed, Kevin will give him that, but he also looks like he’s trying not to laugh. Kevin doesn’t know if he should feel offended. “I’m sorry again. Really.”

Kevin can appreciate an apology. “It’s ok. I hope you two hit it off, though.”

“Huh? Oh, Jacob and I? Thanks. I don’t know about that, I think Hak had a point. But we’ll see.”

Jaehyun stands up to leave. He gives Kevin a slightly awkward smile, which Kevin responds in kind. 

Well. That was definitely something. 

* * *

“Haknyeonie was right.”

Kevin nearly spits out his soda in surprise. He has been standing to the side ever since Chanhee went out of the room to take a call, watching the party—if a cake and three bottles of soda in the breakroom can be called that—, distracted enough to not have noticed Jaehyun approaching him. 

“Right about what?” He asks once he’s recovered.

“Jacob is straight. Well,” Jaehyun shrugs. “Either that or he’s not into me, but let’s just say he’s straight for the sake of my ego.”

“Aw. I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s all good. Who needs a hot man with a guitar, anyway? Not me.”

Kevin laughs. It’s been a couple of weeks since that weird conversation by his desk. Jaehyun looks relaxed, leaning against the wall and sipping from his plastic cup. He’s a good-looking man, objectively speaking, and Kevin can’t imagine he’s actually that bummed about the whole thing. But then again, Kevin doesn’t like to assume things. So he doesn’t. 

“Musicians are the worst,” he jokes. 

“The worst,” Jaehyun agrees, solemnly. “Good thing I never took any singing classes when I was a teen.”

“Oh gosh,” Kevin tries not to laugh. “Sorry. Full disclosure, music therapy was my second choice of career, so...”

“So the conclusion here is, _we_ are the worst?”

“Definitely.” 

Jaehyun’s smile is kind but playful; the sort to make Kevin think he’s in on the secret, whatever the secret might be. 

“So,” he begins. Jaehyun turns to him, giving him his full attention. “You’re a lawyer.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Jaehyun points out, smirking behind his cup.

“Not bad at all. Just wondering what a lawyer would want at a publishing company that specializes in romance.”

Jaehyun narrows his eyes, and Kevin can’t help but grin. He sounds amused when he says, “You were sitting on that one since that day?”

“Nah. Thought of it just the other day.”

“And if I said it’s none of your business?”

“That would be completely fair.”

Jaehyun considers it for a moment. “I’m a writer.” 

That’s unexpected enough that Kevin is taken aback. “Wait, hold on. For real?”

“Not a published one, obviously. But maybe someday.” It’s clear he’s having fun with Kevin’s reaction. He chuckles when he says, “Is it really that shocking?”

“A little bit,” Kevin admits. “What do you write? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all. Short stories, mostly, but I’m finishing a book too.”

“Romance?”

Jaehyun grins. “Romance.” 

Kevin can’t wrap his head around it, for some reason. For all the time he’s spent around authors and editors for the past few months, he didn’t quite expect Lee Jaehyun from Legal to be one of them.

“To be fair,” Jaehyun adds, “Plenty of lawyers have corporate jobs at places like this. I just happen to have an ulterior motive to be here.”

“You want to publish your book with Mujigae?”

“Maybe. I’m not entirely sold on the idea yet,” Jaehyun says. “But if I do end up selling my book, yeah.”

“You’re friends with the chief editor, it wouldn’t be hard.”

“I know. That’s part of the reason, too. I don’t know if I would trust any other place. At least here I know my book would be in good hands.”

“Haknyeon would totally do that for you.”

“He’d also be honest about it if my book sucked.”

Kevin laughs. “He would.” 

“What about you? What’s your reason for being here? You could be a social media manager anywhere.” 

“Honestly?” Kevin watches two of their coworkers struggle with the cork on a bottle of champagne that someone seems to have magically produced out of nowhere. “I’m doing my master's and freelancing wasn’t covering the bills anymore. I could technically be an editor, but you guys didn’t have any openings for that six months ago, so.”

“Wait. So you’re an editor?”

“I have a degree in Literature,” Kevin says, glad to see he’s the one pulling the rug from under Jaehyun’s feet now. “And I’m doing my master's in Translation, so.”

“Translation,” Jaehyun says, awed. “That’s amazing.”

Kevin doesn’t really know how to deal with compliments, much less with people being amazed by what he does. He doesn’t think there’s a lot to be amazed by, anyway. So he’s relieved to see Chanhee walk over again, bringing a slice of cake with him.

“What did I miss?” Chanhee asks. 

“Champagne,” Kevin points to the bottle now being passed from hand to hand a few steps from them.

“Pass. What else?”

Kevin is used to hanging out with Chanhee, but he finds he doesn’t mind having Jaehyun there, too. He’s much quieter when he’s not around Haknyeon or Youngjae, Kevin realizes, and the three of them are happy to sit around Chanhee’s desk and chat away for the next hour of non-work. They know the drill of these office birthday parties—no one really works for the last hour of the day, milling around the office with plastic cups and plates, drinking all of the soda the interns brought for the party.

And if there was any awkwardness left from that first conversation where Jaehyun offered to give him Jacob’s number, Kevin doesn’t remember it anymore. He’s more than glad to enjoy his company for now, knowing that what awaits him at home is the paper he doesn’t think he’s ever gonna finish. What is a slightly blunt coworker in the face of imminent academic failure? Absolutely nothing.

In that one hour, he learns all that he never learned about Jaehyun in the months Kevin has been at the company. He learns that he has a sister, that he hates snakes, and that when he first joined Mujigae Books, he thought Chanhee hated him. (Chanhee explains, with an air of poised nonchalance, that he wasn’t exactly wrong.) It’s when Jaehyun and Chanhee are arguing over whether or not the other has a severe case of resting bitch face that it occurs to Kevin how nice it is to have someone else other than Chanhee to consider if not a friend, at least a close acquaintance at work.

* * *

Kevin makes some progress with his paper. Not as fast as he hoped he would, but it’s enough that he’s not googling how much it would cost him for him to take a sabbatical year. He’s almost done with his second year, and he’s got one more year to go. He should have gotten the hang of this by now, he thinks. College should have prepared him for this, shouldn’t it?

As he stares at the cursor blinking at him with growing frustration, he knows it’s pointless to try and squeeze anything else from his brain tonight. He puts his laptop aside on the couch and clears some minimal space on the coffee table, amidst books, notebooks, and loose papers, to rest his feet. He picks up his phone, checks his notification, and tilts his head in mild confusion.

**Lee Jaehyun [19:02]:**

hey, it’s jaehyun from work

are you busy tonight?

Jaehyun has never texted him before.

Kevin isn’t even sure how he has his number until he remembers they’re all in the same groupchat for work. He isn’t peeved by the fact that Jaehyun chose to privately message him like this, but he isn’t inclined to answer, either. He can always play the busy master's student card and pretend he didn’t have time to answer. Or he can be honest.

**kevin moon [19:19]:**

hey man!

not busy, actually

what’s up? :) 

He figures it’s probably something like a favor. That’s what sounds most logical in his head—Jaehyun needs a quick favor, and Kevin is likely his last resort, or something like that. Maybe it’s something to do with graphic design. Jaehyun wouldn’t be the first person to ask Kevin for some freelance design work out of the blue and ask for it to be on the house, too, like Kevin has nothing better to do other than design things for free for friends and family.

He’s totally not bitter about any of that, of course.

Almost as soon as he replies, his phone starts ringing. He’s so surprised it nearly slips out of his hands, but he catches it and answers the call.

“Hello?”

“ _Hey, Kevin,_ ” Jaehyun’s voice is casual, light. He sounds good on the phone, which would be unfair in any just world. “ _How is it going?_ ”

Kevin looks around, half expecting to see a prank camera pointed at him. “Uh, good? Is everything ok, hyung?”

“ _Oh, yeah,_ ” Jaehyun chuckles. “ _Sorry, this is super out of nowhere, right? I was just wondering if you’d want to go see a musical with me tonight._ ”

If Kevin was confused before, nothing compares to now. He checks his phone, confirms that it’s Jaehyun’s name on his screen, takes it back to his ear. “Me?”

“ _Yeah. I was gonna take Haknyeonie but he bailed on me, so…_ ”

“So I’m your next logical choice?”

“ _You mentioned the other day that you like musicals._ ”

“I do,” Kevin says immediately, because he does. He loves musicals. But it was such a passing comment in the middle of conversation, he didn’t imagine it had registered on Jaehyun. “But that’s—I mean. You don’t have anyone else to take with you?”

“ _Not really,_ ” Jaehyun says, honest and straightforward.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered,” Kevin explains. “I’m just a little surprised.”

“ _I get it. And if you don’t want to, that’s fine. Just thought I should ask._ ”

The gremlins inside Kevin’s head speak for him before he can think it through, “What musical is it?”

“ _Chicago._ ”

“What?!” Kevin squeaks. “Ok. Ok, first of all: those are some expensive tickets.”

Jaehyun hums in acknowledgement, not denying it, but not commenting on it either. Like it’s no big deal. 

“Second of all, that’s my favorite musical. I’ve never seen the Korean production, though.”

“ _All the more reason to come. Please?_ ”

Kevin thinks it’s absurd that Jaehyun is pleading for _him_ to come. He says as much, and Jaehyun laughs, the sound light and beautiful over the phone. 

“ _You’d be doing me a favor, Kevin. I don’t want to go alone._ ”

One hour later, Kevin meets Jaehyun outside the theater. He’s dressed casually, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket, hair curlier than he usually wears for work. The kind smile is there, too, and Kevin, excited about the prospect of seeing the stage version of Velma Kelly up close, smiles back.

It’s everything he thought it’d be and more. It takes a bit of getting used to, hearing the same songs he knows by heart in another language entirely, but by the end of it he’s ecstatic. When Jaehyun suggests they get something to eat, Kevin agrees right away. They talk about the plot and the characters over burgers and milkshake, Kevin more than happy to explain the details Jaehyun missed, and to go at length about the differences between the stage production and the movie adaptation.

Jaehyun listens intently, asks his own questions, and overall lets Kevin school him on all the details only someone obsessed with the musical would really care about. It’s a good couple of hours before they say their goodbyes and go on their way, Jaehyun promising to watch the 2002 movie that week to solidify his stance on why Roxie is the best character.

It’s only when Kevin is slipping into bed later that night that he realizes that was the most fun he’s had in a while.

* * *

Chanhee corners him by the printer on Monday.

“Kevin Moon, you _bitch_ ,” Chanhee hisses at him, clearly wanting to raise his voice but doing the opposite.

Kevin turns to him, perplexed, “Just Kevin Moon is fine.”

“You went on a date!” Chanhee stabs his finger on Kevin’s arm, making him wince. “On a fucking date! After I’ve tried to get you on one for years!”

“I didn’t go on a date,” Kevin says, more confused than ever. “Who told you that?”

“Haknyeon told me you went out with Jaehyun hyung.”

“I did.”

Chanhee stabs him with a finger again. This time Kevin moves away, mouthing _ow!_ at him. 

“And why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was friendly, it wasn’t a date. Geez, calm down.”

Chanhee raises an eyebrow. “Friendly?”

“Yes. As in, two friends hanging out together. You know, like when we go out together.”

“Where did you go?”

“We watched a musical.”

Now both of Chanhee’s eyebrows are up. “And after?”

“We had milkshakes.”

“It wasn’t a date?”

“No!” Kevin waits until a coworker has walked past them to add, “It was friendly. Innocent. If Haknyeon told you it was more than that, he was embellishing things.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Kevin opens his mouth, ready to argue, but he doesn’t know what to say other than an exasperated, “ _Why_?”

“It sounds like a date. Especially for you. A musical? That’s how I would romance you.”

“Oh, yeah. Nothing gets me out of my pants faster than singing about murder.”

“He took you to see _Chicago_?!” Chanhee says this so loud that the people at the desks closest to them look up. Frustrated, he pulls Kevin by the elbow until they’re on the side corridor that leads to the bathrooms, hidden from curious eyes and ears. Kevin barely has the time to spare a sad look towards the pages he’s been printing out. “Kevin, that was a date.”

“It wasn’t! I was there. You don’t think I would know?”

“I don’t know, would you? When was the last time you went on one?” When Kevin doesn’t answer, Chanhee says, “Exactly.”

“I wasn’t—It wasn’t— _No!_ ” Kevin tries to argue, but he’s not so sure of what he’s saying anymore. “Wait. Did he think it was a date?”

“I don’t know. Did he? Why would Haknyeon think it was a date if Jaehyun himself didn’t tell him that?”

“Oh, this is bad.”

“It’s not bad.”

“No, but it is,” Kevin says, biting the skin of his thumb. “Do you think I gave the wrong impression? By agreeing to go?”

“How did he ask you?”

“‘Hey, Kevin’,” Kevin tries to emulate Jaehyun’s melodious, slightly nasal voice. “‘You busy? Wanna go see a musical?’”

Chanhee makes a face. “You make him sound like a jock on helium.” 

“Ok, forget the bad impression! Focus on the words. It wasn’t a date. Not officially.”

Chanhee considers that for a moment. “Yeah. I don’t know, I’m drawing a blank here. You’re both really weird, I don’t know how to read him any more than I do you.”

Before Kevin can argue that a) he’s not _that_ weird and b) he’s not like Jaehyun, whatever that means, Chanhee’s phone vibrates with a text.

“Ok, I gotta go, the meeting is about to start. But please keep me updated on this…” Chanhee makes a vague gesture with his free hand as he types something with the other. “This thing.”

He walks away with purpose, like he always does, as if he’s the actual chief editor—which, for all intents and purposes, he kinda is. 

Kevin is left to bite his thumb a little too hard, wincing in pain when he breaks skin, mumbling, “There is no _thing_ ” to no one but himself.

* * *

Catford was full of shit, but things were easier when all Kevin had to read were theories he _knew_ were bullshit. As he stares at the list of names he’s supposed to be using throughout his paper—of which he’s only managed to include 2 so far, mind you—he wonders, not for the first time, why there are so many German scholars in the world.

That’s when he decides to take a much needed snack break.

Having classes two nights a week should be fine, considering he’s got a full-time job now, and it’s tiring enough as it is. But he’s come to loathe the nights he’s at home, trying to come up with a paper that makes sense. He has no idea how he managed to take so many classes that entire year and learn virtually nothing. Or, at least, that’s what it feels like now that he’s being asked to put into words whatever it is that he’s been taught.

He’s not panicking. He refuses to accept that he’s panicking, because he has always been fairly proud of his results in school, managing even when he was taking part-time jobs in high school. There’s absolutely no reason he should be having so much trouble now. 

Hell, if he survived Postwar Literature in college, this should be the easy part.

So he takes another cup of coffee, ignoring the clock on the wall that says it’s past midnight, and sits down with his cup and a bag of Doritos at his tiny dinner table. He goes through his notifications, watches a couple of InstaStories from celebrities he has notifs on for, and scrolls even further down until an email catches his eye. He clicks on it more out of curiosity than anything. 

**from:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr   
**to:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr   
**subject:** [Sun Chasers] First Draft

Dear Editor,

I have attached the first draft of “Sun Chasers” below for review. 

“Sun Chasers” is a short story of around 2000 words, centered on two boys who decide to chase the sun after a storm leaves their neighborhood in chaos. It has not been approved by any editor before you, nor is it scheduled to be published, but I thought, why not? 

Feel free to add your own comments and thoughts to it. I always felt the ending was missing something, but I could never figure out what exactly. 

Kind regards,

Jaehyun (not a real writer)

p.s.: You could always ignore this email.

Kevin has been ignoring Jaehyun for the better part of a month now.

It figures Jaehyun wouldn’t give up even after his messages went unread and Kevin kept a polite distance at work. Not that Kevin expects him to be the kind of guy to ignore boundaries, but because Kevin hasn’t really _set_ any boundaries. They just… haven’t talked. In any way. 

Jaehyun, Kevin learned the past few weeks, can be just as awkward as Kevin himself when social cues aren’t as clear anymore. He caught Kevin in the breakroom once, but when Kevin looked back down at his phone, ignoring him, Jaehyun stood there in confusion for a moment before turning on his heels and fleeing the room, holding his still empty coffee mug. And when they bumped into each other in the elevator, Kevin stared ahead like the reflective surface of the elevator doors held all the secrets to the universe; Jaehyun pretended to look at his phone, even though Kevin could tell he was glancing at him.

It’s awkward, sure, and Kevin feels bad for turning a cold shoulder on a perfectly nice person who had just started to feel like a friend to him, but he has his reasons. The way he sees it, there’s no surer way to let Jaehyun know he’s not interested in him like _that_ than to put some distance between them. Let things cool off, maybe hope that the Jacob guy will come around and text Jaehyun back so Kevin feels it’s safe to go back to the way things were.

It’s not perfect, and Kevin has lost some potential friendships along the way by applying that same method before, but it’s what works.

Or, well. What used to work. With people that weren’t Jaehyun.

He considers ignoring the email. There would be no repercussions, because it’s not a _real_ email. Jaehyun isn’t actually submitting his writing to the company, and Kevin isn’t actually one of their editors. Maybe, if things go according to plan, one day he might be, but right now, he isn’t. So it’s more of a joke than anything—they’re playing pretend as Jaehyun uses that as a (very creative, Kevin has to admit) excuse to reach out.

But if they’re playing pretend, Kevin thinks, it might be safe to play along. He’s too curious to read Jaehyun’s story, anyway, mind already miles away from his unfinished paper.

It’s like Jaehyun knew exactly how to get Kevin’s attention, and that is so infuriatingly clever, Kevin can’t really ignore his efforts.

So he downloads the file and gets to reading.

It’s short as Jaehyun promised, just shy of 2200 words, and exactly as he described it in the email: two young boys, angry with the destruction caused to their neighborhood by a storm, set off to chase the sun. It’s a sweet tale of friendship and childhood, and of burdens too heavy for young shoulders to carry. There’s a sensitivity to it that Kevin wasn’t quite expecting—in only so many words, the story manages to tell the story of those kids through their eyes, with childlike innocence that doesn’t hide as much as it gives nuance to the adult world around them.

Whatever misgivings Kevin had about this exchange fly right out of his head as he turns editing mode on and suggests a couple of changes to wording and grammar here and there. Nothing major—the story is really good as it is, and he tells Jaehyun as much in an added comment. He rereads it more times than he really needs to before he finally attaches the edited doc to his reply.

**from:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr   
**to:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr   
**subject:** Re: [Sun Chasers] First Draft

Dear author,

See file attached. Minor corrections and a few comments have been added. 

Overall, excellent work. Are you sure you don’t want this to go through official means? You could publish this.

As for the ending, I don’t see how it could be improved upon. Unless you meant for the reader to have a different takeaway? Because the way it is right now, it’s hopeful. They’re in dire straits, but they will be fine. They have each other. Is that what you were going for? 

Best,

Kevin Moon (not a real editor, but you ARE a real writer) 

p.s.: How can I ignore this?!

By the time he sends his reply, it’s way too late for him to pretend like he can’t read the clock. He needs to at least take a nap if he plans on existing as a functional human being the next day, so that’s what he does. 

He doesn’t dream, even though he was half expecting to.

**from:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr  
**to:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr  
**subject:** Re: [Sun Chasers] First Draft 

Dear editor, 

You’re too kind. I’m glad you liked the story, and even more glad you didn’t have to fix too many things. Law school sometimes made me forget how to word. It still happens. It’s a cold, cold world, the legal one.

Regarding the ending, it _is_ supposed to feel hopeful. I don’t know why I feel like it’s not complete. Maybe because I know what happens to the characters in the future, I keep wanting to add details that will allude to it. But that’s not the point of a short story, and we both know that. So you’re right. There’s nothing to fix there. 

I hope I’m not pushing it by attaching another story to this email for your review. I won’t say much about it, only that it’s shorter than the first. I would love to hear your thoughts on it. But, again, you don’t have to. Feel free to ignore this email as well.

Kind regards,

Jaehyun, The Writer Who Shall Not Be Called A Writer 

The email arrives later that afternoon, when Kevin is preoccupied with the scheduling their monthly newsletter. He doesn’t open it right away, knowing that once he does, all of his productivity will fly right out of the window. There’s no particular reason he’s so curious to read Jaehyun’s writing and what he has to say about it, aside from the fact that Kevin is a curious guy. 

And maybe he has been feeling guilty and a little sad for pushing Jaehyun away, sure. This thing, with the way Jaehyun set it up, under the pretense of work, is really just noncommittal enough for Kevin to allow himself to indulge in. 

All of it to say, he thinks it’s fun. Which is so nerd of him, but whatever.

Finally, when he’s sent the last tweet of the day on the company’s account, he opens Jaehyun’s email.

The story this time is about a man who has never seen the ocean but whose plans to visit the beach always seem to fall through at the last second. Kevin is too busy trying to think ahead and figure out if Jaehyun is the kind of author who always writes around a motif—water, or maybe nature itself?—to realize, until the very last paragraphs, that it’s a sequel. The character is one of the boys from “Sun Chasers”, all grown-up now, and his friend is the one who finally takes him to see the ocean, holding his hand as they take in the view; the last line is a line of dialogue where the friends says that maybe they had been too busy chasing too many things since they were kids to find themselves along the way. 

It’s not a very elaborate plot, but it’s just as sweet and delicate as the first one. Kevin is impressed, and in a way flattered, too, that he gets to read these. He doesn’t know how many people Jaehyun has shown these stories to, but Kevin is positive it’s not as many as it should be—he sees potential in this. Real potential, to be published in a collection, or at very least in a publication. It almost makes him stand up and take the elevator to the third floor, to tell that to Jaehyun in person, gush to him about the subtlety in his writing that would touch so many more people if he would just release it to the world.

But that’s not what they’re doing here.

Kevin lets the story sit in his brain for another day. He has classes tonight, and even though he’d love nothing more than to devote his night to this silly charade where he pretends to be an editor, he’s desperate to absorb something during class in hopes it will seep straight from his ears and into his final paper. That’s not how it happens, of course, but listen: sometimes despair makes us wish magic was real and Kevin thinks there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

**from:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr  
**to:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr  
**subject:** Re: [Sun Chasers] First Draft

Dear author,

Allow me to be unprofessional for a moment here: WHAT!! A sequel?! I did NOT see that coming!!! How dare you pull at my heartstrings like that!!!!! 

But on a more serious note and with far less exclamation marks, that was lovely. You will see in the attached file that I suggest a couple of paragraphs to be switched up during the flashbacks, for pacing reasons. Absolutely loved the placement of the story beats, though. You delivered the three-act narrative with a story that was mostly about introspection and inner feelings, and for that I applaud you! 

I see what you mean now about the ending of Chasers. Knowing they will fall in love in the future makes you want to add an allusion to it, right? But I maintain my position that you don’t need to change anything about that ending. They were too young, love was still a long way in the future for them. The friendship was there, and that’s what gave the story heart. No need to change anything, in my opinion. 

I must ask again: are you sure you don’t mean to publish these? Because I think you should. You know, as your editor.

Best,

Kevin, still not an editor

* * *

The emails don’t stop.

Kevin doesn’t want them to. He makes no effort whatsoever to stop them, especially not with every new story Jaehyun sends him. In the span of five weeks, he reads six of Jaehyun’s short stories. They’re all good, as far as Kevin is concerned, and he has a good deal of fun playing editor even though he knows he would be much more swamped if this were a real gig and not just pretense.

They delve into Jaehyun’s writing and prose, flesh out his characters, discuss technique and personal style. Kevin is under the impression that Jaehyun never really did this—he never discussed his stories in depth like this, with so much detail. He’s having as much fun as Kevin, as far as he can tell. His emails get longer, too, and he no longer adds a cheeky _feel free to ignore this email_ mid-paragraph like he did for the first few.

Kevin finishes the first draft of his paper with a sigh so deep, he worries he risked popping a rib for a second there. 

He’s cutting very close to his deadline, since his professor still needs to go through it and offer her feedback, then send it back to him for whatever he needs to fix. But just the fact that he’s managed to finish it, put together something and say _here, I did this_ , is already such a relief, he doesn’t even mind that he’s probably gonna be losing his mind in a few days when he gets the feedback. 

“I knew you could do it,” Chanhee says when he hears about it, flipping Kevin’s hair here and there as he watches Kevin’s reflection in his tiny bathroom mirror. “Now, how are we feeling? A little mohawk in celebration? Sidecut? Bangs?”

“Only if you want to see me cry,” Kevin warns, making Chanhee laugh.

“Don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”

“I know.”

Because he does know. After so many years of not knowing what to do with himself, Kevin is finally happy with the length and overall styling of his hair. Which means he’s terrified of letting anyone but Chanhee touch it. It’s a favor to Kevin, because Chanhee won’t let Kevin pay him for it, but also a favor to Chanhee, who loved the experience of working as an apprentice hairdresser in college and never got to do it again after graduating.

“So,” Chanhee gets right to it, shears in hand. “What are you planning to do once you’re on a break from classes?”

Kevin sighs, “Gosh, I don’t know. Watch a movie or two, I think. I haven’t been watching anything lately. Why? Anything in mind?”

“Well… Remember Changmin’s friend?”

“The one you had your eyes on?”

“Yes. The rich one.”

“Of course.”

“Well, he invited us for a weekend at his family house in the country.”

“That sounds… sketchy.”

Chanhee laughs, slaps Kevin’s shoulder. “Stop it. He’s not a serial killer, Changmin has known him for ages.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think it is.”

Chanhee laughs harder, “Ok, yeah, I see your point. But trust me, he’s not a serial killer. And you could come with us.”

“What? Me? Oh, love, that’s so sweet of you, but I don’t think he’d like a complete stranger on this trip.”

“He said I could bring friends,” Chanhee explains. “You’re my friend. And you’ve been working nonstop since you started at Mujigae, what with your classes and everything.”

Kevin is touched, because he knows Chanhee has been paying attention. He knows the bags under his eyes are a clear indicator of how much sleep he’s been getting (hint: none) to anyone who knows him like Chanhee does.

“Seriously, you should think about it,” Chanhee continues. “A weekend away, by the lake, sleeping in a mansion and eating rich people food. For free. The only downside is that you’re probably gonna have to watch me flirt with said rich people.”

“That’s no problem, I’m used to it.”

It’s Kevin’s turn to laugh when Chanhee gasps in mock offense. 

“Hey man, not my fault you have expensive taste in men!”

“I do not. Well. Maybe a little,” Chanhee concedes with a knowing smirk. He’s almost done snipping away Kevin’s dry tips, fingers moving fast like those of an expert. “Speaking of men…”

“Here it comes.”

“No, no here it comes. I’ve been thinking...”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Shut up,” Chanhee rolls his eyes with a smile. “I was just wondering. Why did you stop talking to Jaehyun hyung?”

“Oh.”

“And please don’t tell me it’s because you were scared he might try to ask you out again.”

Kevin can’t lie to Chanhee. He never tries to, anyway, but he knows that even if tried, he wouldn’t be able to. So he gives him an awkward and very guilty smile through the mirror and watches as Chanhee rolls his eyes again, this time much more dramatically. 

“Kevin Moon!”

“Choi Chanhee.”

“Is that why you didn’t want to go to Haeun’s birthday thing last week? Are you avoiding him?”

“To be completely fair, I wanted to finish writing that godforsaken paper. That was my priority last week. But I... won’t deny him being there factored into it.”

Chanhee groans, loudly. He flops Kevin’s hair again, to one side, then to the other, checking his work. Satisfied, he puts down the shears and crosses his arms, looking at Kevin. “Why?”

“I don’t know! I just. I didn’t want to lead him on.”

“And what if you did?” Chanhee asks. Before Kevin can answer, he adds. “What would be so terrible about it?”

“So terrible about leading someone on?”

“About letting someone in,” Chanhee says. That shuts Kevin up. “I know we talked about this before, and I know I’ve asked this question before, probably more times than would be nice of me. But I gotta ask again if I want to live in peace with myself knowing I’ve been pushing people on you all this time: are you or are you not interested in dating?”

“I am,” Kevin says, confident. That has always been his answer, and it hasn’t changed.

“Romantic relationships?”

“Yes. Always have been.”

“Then what is stopping you from pursuing one?” 

“I—” Kevin hesitates. 

Before, when Chanhee asked that same question during their college days, Kevin’s answer had been simple: he was too busy. Between classes, part-time jobs, internships, and Kevin’s growing anxiety, he had dodged dating like a professional athlete leaping over obstacles without ever touching them. He just avoided the whole thing, because high school had been hell enough in terms of unrequited crushes and feeling _less_ because the boy he happened to want to kiss thought he wasn’t hot enough. College was supposed to be more than that. It was a whole new world, and he wasn’t gonna let anyone make him feel small for such an inconsequential thing such as wanting to get laid.

Now, though, the answer is a little more tricky. His self-worth doesn’t hinge entirely on what someone thinks of him, so it’s not that that’s stopping him. He’s busy, sure, but not that busy that he can’t allow himself a couple days a week to see someone, like his friends do with their flings, significant others, and, in some scary cases, spouses. (Seriously, he’s 23, none of his old classmates have any business being married already, he thinks.) 

So what _is_ stopping him?

“I don’t know,” he admits, surprising himself.

“Because it’d be totally ok if you didn’t want anything like that.”

“I know. Trust me, that’s not the case.” 

“Ok. Now that we’ve established that: look, I’m not saying Jaehyun hyung is perfect,” Chanhee says. “I still think he has no right being that pretty with a law degree to boot, and he’s clearly lying about that nose being his. But other than that… Kevin, he’s a nice guy.”

“You sound like you have a crush on him.”

“I did,” Chanhee admits. “Right when he joined the company, I hated his guts because I wanted to bed him. That’s how I do crushes, I hate them so much I want to fuck the hate away.”

“So classy.”

“Oh, shut up, you prude,” Chanhee says with no real bite, making them laugh. “But for real, what do you gain from pushing the guy away?”

“Nothing. And, to be honest, we have been talking…”

Kevin hasn’t told Chanhee about the emails, but he tells him about them now. It occurs to him that he hasn’t told anyone about it, for some reason. It wasn’t like it was a secret—more like, it was their thing. It didn’t feel necessary to mention it to anyone. But he does now, because he could use Chanhee’s input on this.

“And you’ve only been talking through… emails?” Chanhee is leaning against the wall, forehead creased in thought. “That’s so weird it almost makes sense.”

“Right? In some absurd way it makes sense to me too,” Kevin says. “But now I just—Do you think I should stop?”

“No!” Chanhee is vehement. “No, please, no more running away from hot men. I still can’t believe you didn’t deem Jacob Bae worth two minutes of your time.”

“Oh. Right. Jacob. Jaehyun hyung asked for his number, didn’t he?”

“He did. But just between you and me? Jacob was interested in _you_ , baby,” Chanhee explains, starting to touch Kevin’s hair again distractedly, like a hairdresser considering his next move. “He wasn’t very thrilled about Jaehyun texting him, God only knows why. And I mean that literally. That guy probably only confides in God and his therapist.”

Kevin laughs, because he knows the type. But he’s also distracted, thinking about the implications of what they’re saying. That Jaehyun is, very likely, still single. That _Kevin_ is single and not opposed to the idea of changing that.

Basically, that two and two is four. 

He thinks about all that for a moment that stretches for so long that it gives Chanhee enough time to decide he wants to moisturize Kevin’s hair—nothing too fancy, just using the products he already has at home. They relocate to the living room, and before Chanhee can press play on something on the TV, Kevin asks, just to make sure they’re on the same page about this:

“So you think I should give him a chance? Jaehyun hyung, I mean?”

Chanhee smiles. “I think you should give _yourself_ a chance to live your life however you want, baby. And if you decide to take him along for the ride, he should consider himself very lucky.”

**from:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr  
**to:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr  
**subject:** Re: [Sun Chasers] First Draft

Dear editor,

I know I just sent you an email re: Path, and I know you probably haven't had the opportunity to read it yet, but...

Remember the book I told you about? The one I have been writing for the past year? Well, it’s done.

I’ll press pause on our game here to say that you obviously don’t need to edit this one. You don’t even need to read it, really. But I don’t think I would’ve been able to finish the last few chapters if we hadn’t been doing this. So thank you. Talking to you has been inspiring in more ways than one. 

Thank you for not ignoring that first email.

Kind regards,

Jaehyun, indefinitely in your debt

**from:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr  
**to:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr  
**subject:** Re: [Sun Chasers] First Draft

Dear author, 

I have two requests, both of which you can decline and I’ll totally understand.

Would you let me read your book? 

And if yes, would you be willing to meet me to discuss it? Next Saturday. I’ll text you the address if you’re up for it. 

Best,

Kevin, just Kevin this time

p.s.: Sorry if I rambled on my last email, but space operas have that effect on me. Space, man. Wild. 

* * *

Jaehyun looks like he does French perfume commercials. 

At least that’s what Kevin’s brain comes up with when he walks into the café and spots Jaehyun already there, a small cup of coffee in front of him. He’s wearing a vanilla knit sweater that contrasts beautifully with the golden brown of his curls. He’s looking at his phone when Kevin walks in. 

He looks harmless. Not in a wolf in sheep’s clothing way, but in a real, sobering way. Kevin suddenly can’t remember why he thought he had to walk away from someone like Lee Jaehyun. Yes, he _is_ hot, and yes, he _does_ look like he might jump from a yacht into the ocean in a Dior ad, but. 

That’s Jaehyun from Legal. A friendly face. A friend, if Kevin is being honest with himself. 

Kevin reaches the table and watches the way Jaehyun’s expression goes from blank, from staring at his phone, to that trademark kind smile as he meets Kevin’s eyes. 

“Kevin,” he says, like it’s an immense pleasure just saying his name.

“Hey,” Kevin greets him with a smile of his own. He sits down across from him, eyes the cup of coffee. “What are you having?”

“Oh, just an espresso,” Jaehyun says, already looking up to signal down the waitress. “I didn’t know what you’d like.”

“Anything with caffeine is my favorite drink, really.”

Jaehyun chuckles at that just as the waitress, a young girl with big eyes and an even bigger smile, brings Kevin the menu. He asks for his usual cappuccino, and the girl walks away with his order.

“So,” Jaehyun starts.

Before he can say anything else, Kevin establishes what he has been repeating to himself like a mantra all the way to the café, “This is not a date.”

Jaehyun blinks in surprise, the tips of his lips curving into a smirk, “Ok. Noted.”

“Just want to make that clear.”

“I hear you.”

“Ok. Good,” Kevin clears this throat, glad to have that out of the way.

“So.”

“So.”

“How have you been?”

It’s not what Kevin was expecting. He doesn’t know what exactly he was expecting, because he has been overthinking this encounter ever since he suggested it to Jaehyun the week before, but this is… easier. Friendly. Jaehyun sounds genuinely curious and earnest, sipping from his coffee just as the waitress brings Kevin his order.

So Kevin goes with it. Relaxes a bit more, lets his guards down.

“I’ve been… I mean, master's-induced insanity aside, I’ve been alright. I’m almost done with this year, thank God.”

“Oh? Did you finish your paper?”

“I did! Can you believe it? I just need to fix some wonky references, but that’s about it. My deadline is next Friday, so even if I wanted to obsess any longer over the details I wouldn’t have the time to do so, which is great,” Kevin takes a sip of his coffee, careful not to burn himself. He loves this café and their nearly criminally hot beverages. “What about you? How’s it going in your life?”

“Nothing much, really,” Jaehyun thinks for a second. “A close friend asked me to be his best man at his wedding. That’s about as much real life excitement as I have for now.”

“Best man! Wow. That’s bonkers. I mean,” Kevin corrects himself immediately when Jaehyun laughs. “Good for him, and good for you. It’s just bonkers that so many people around me are getting married. Is he our age?”

“He’s 25,” Jaehyun says. “Just turned 25 the other month, actually.”

“That is _so_ weird. Not your friend, of course, you know what I mean—”

“I do,” Jaehyun is smiling both with his lips and his eyes. He looks the cutest Kevin has ever seen him, which almost makes Kevin want to down his scorching hot cappuccino in one go, if anything to have something to take his mind off that train of thought. “Don’t worry, I’ve teased him enough about it. But he and his girlfriend have been together since high school, so I’m not that worried.”

“Oh, wow. Since high school? Ok, maybe they waited long enough.”

Jaehyun chuckles. “That’s what they said.” 

There’s a brief pause.

“So,” Kevin starts again. He runs a hand through his hair, getting his thoughts in order for this. “There’s a reason I asked you to meet me here.”

“The book.”

“Yes. In parts, yeah.”

Jaehyun gives him a quizzical look. “In parts?”

“I have a proposal. Well. More than one, because I don’t know which one you’d like more.”

“I thought we agreed getting married before 25 is jumping the gun,” Jaehyun says, grinning behind his cup when Kevin sputters.

“That’s not—Very funny, but it’s not that kind of proposal.”

“I’m all ears.”

Kevin takes a deep breath. “What do you think about getting published overseas?”

He can see it in Jaehyun’s startled look that that was not what he was expecting. “What do you mean?”

“I have friends at an indie press in Canada. They work mostly with LGBTQ authors, much like Mujigae does here. I bet they’d love your short stories as much as I do.”

Jaehyun’s expression softens minutely. “You really like them?”

“I thought my extensive emails dissecting them would have hinted at that.”

“You could’ve just been nice—” as Kevin squints at him, he changes course mid-sentence, “—but that is _not_ the case. Got it. Well. I’m glad to hear that.”

Kevin chuckles, “I really like them. I mean it. And I thought maybe if you had them published elsewhere, it would encourage you to have them published here, too. Through Mujigae, even. I’m surprised Haknyeon hasn’t convinced you yet, to be honest.”

Jaehyun grins, like he knows something Kevin doesn’t. “He hasn’t read them.”

“Oh? Well, that explains it. So who has read them?”

“You.”

“Yes, and?”

“Just you.”

Kevin opens his mouth to speak but no words come out. The realization that he’s the only one Jaehyun has confided in with his writing is one that touches him more than he would have expected it to. Not just because he didn’t see it coming, but because he had no idea he had been entrusted with something Jaehyun hasn’t trusted anyone else with.

“Did you just short-circuit?”

“Kinda,” he admits.

Jaehyun chuckles. He rests his arms on the table, holding the tiny cup of coffee between his fingers. This close, Kevin can’t help but stare at his cute nose mole as he says, “I have always been a little shy to show my stories to other people. I don’t know why, honestly. I think I wasn’t that confident in them to begin with, and working at Mujigae just made me that much more aware of how much work goes into good writing.”

“Then why did you show me?”

“Other than as a desperate attempt to get you to talk to me again?” Jaehyun shoots him a playful smirk. “I don’t know. I trusted you were qualified and honest enough that if they sucked you’d say as much.”

“Haknyeon could’ve done that. Chanhee too,” Kevin tries to make sense of what he’s saying. “They’re editors and they’re honest. Painfully so.” 

“Neither tried to cut me off out of nowhere. But you did.”

“About that…”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“No, but I want to,” Kevin says. If he sounds exasperated, it’s with himself. For getting himself into this position in the first place. “That wasn’t very nice of me. I freaked out because when we went out that one time Chanhee thought it classified as a date, and I didn’t want you to think I was—That I was—I just mean, I didn’t want you to think—”

“What if it was a date?”

Kevin freezes in his rambling. “Was it?”

“I had fun,” Jaehyun shrugs. “Did you have fun?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Then what does it matter if it was a date or not?”

Kevin hesitates, mouth opening and closing as he tries to find his next words. “Because a date means something. By going on a date you’re showing intent. To turn the relationship into—To date, basically. You go on a date to date.”

“I don’t know. I think a date can just be spending quality time together. Having fun. It’s not necessarily a marriage proposal.”

“Well, no, but—” Kevin pauses again, trying to organize his thoughts. “Ok, so, wait. It wasn’t a date… But it was not _not_ a date?”

“Yes. Wait. Yes,” Now Jaehyun is the one looking mildly confused. “Is ‘date’ even a real word? It’s starting to not sound like one.”

“I know, right?”

They laugh, and Kevin is relieved to find he isn’t nearly as embarrassed about this line of conversation as he feared he would be.

“You’re taking this much better than I would, I think.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve been rejected,” Jaehyun says. He laughs when Kevin widens his eyes, “I’m joking! It’s a joke! Anyway, it’s my fault for not being clear about my intentions.”

“Which were?”

“Very pure,” Jaehyun says, raising both hands as if to show he’s not hiding anything. Kevin chuckles, finding it adorable. “I just wanted to hang out. You’re an interesting guy, I wanted to get to know you. If you wanted to go there and make it something else I totally would go for it, but that wasn’t a requirement for us to hang out. I wouldn’t have been upset if you said you just wanted to be friends. I should’ve been clear about that.”

“No, don’t blame yourself for my bad decisions,” Kevin sighs. “It’s, well—Remember that time you asked me if it wasn’t sad, the fact that I don’t have a lot of experience with romance even though I work for a company that specializes in romance novels?”

Jaehyun nods, a tinge of guilt making its way into his voice when he says, “Sorry about that, by the way.”

“No, don’t be. Well, you had a point. I’m starting to think it _is_ a little sad.”

“No, hey, no,” Jaehyun shakes his head. “I was an asshole for saying that. It’s your life. No one has any say in it but yourself.”

“That’s the point. It’s a little sad because it’s not how I wanted it to be.”

Jaehyun frowns. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a defense mechanism. Hold on to your seat, you’re about to unlock my tragic backstory,” he jokes to lighten the mood, making Jaehyun laugh. “I had bad luck with love in high school, decided I wasn’t gonna let romance get in the way of fun in college, just closing that door whenever I suspected I might be close to liking someone, and now I just… don’t know how to get back on track.”

“Oh.” Jaehyun considers that for a moment. “So you shut people out before they can get too close, or before your feelings can get in the way?”

Kevin nods. “That’s a fair assessment. Yes.”

“That explains your reaction to Jacob that night at the bar.”

“Oh my God, not you too. Chanhee said the same thing! Jacob wasn’t even _that_ hot, come on.”

Jaehyun makes a face. “He’s super hot. What are you talking about?”

“I can’t. You’re all too obsessed with the soft-spoken type for me to take you seriously,” he says, calling the waitress over as Jaehyun laughs, loudly, throwing his head back. He asks for a muffin. “I need sugar for this conversation,” he explains after Jaehyun has ordered a piece of cake for himself and the waitress has walked away.

It’s when they’re almost done eating that Jaehyun brings the topic up again. 

“So. You said you had more than one proposal,” he asks, glancing up from his cake to look at Kevin.

“Oh yeah, right. Well,” Kevin thinks about how to best present this idea. “I was thinking I could be your translator.”

“Oh?”

“If you’d like, of course. We could also find someone else too, no worries. But I don’t have my degree yet, and this would technically be my first deal outside of freelance work, so I’d be… cheaper.”

The moment the words are out of his mouth, he knows how they sound. Jaehyun tries his best not to smile, “So many inappropriate jokes there.”

“So many,” Kevin agrees, also trying to contain his smile. “We’re truly the worst.”

Jaehyun throws his head back laughing again.

“Seventh grade humor aside,” Kevin continues. “That was my second proposal. The third and final is that you let me edit your book.”

“You’re busy with your master's, though.”

“The school year ends next week. Then I have four months until classes start again next year.”

Jaehyun considers that for a moment. “You’d have to let me pay you for it.”

“Fair enough.”

“And I’ll have to think about the other two. Getting published in Canada… I’ll have to think about that.”

“Sure thing. You don’t have to say yes, either. I just think it’d be a good opportunity. But it’s your call. And if you decide you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.”

Jaehyun watches his face, like he wants to say something. Kevin holds his gaze, lets himself stare safe in the knowledge that Jaehyun is staring, too. The café is starting to get more traffic as the sun starts to set behind the tall buildings around them.

Kevin waits. 

There’s a tiny smudge of cream on the corner of Jaehyun’s lips.

Kevin absolutely, resolutely, 100% does not think about wiping it clean for him.

“I have a proposal for you,” Jaehyun finally says, taking Kevin out of his reverie.

“Oh? I’m curious.”

“Let me take you on a date.”

Kevin blinks, sure he heard it wrong. “What?”

“A real, cliché one this time.”

“Cliché?”

“Yes,” Jaehyun says, grinning. “Cliché enough to have been a montage scene in a romantic comedy from the early 2000s.”

“Like, kissing in the rain? Or running through the airport before the other boards the plane?”

“I was thinking more riding the ferris wheel and sharing cotton candy, but sure. If you want we could do that too.”

Kevin laughs, a little speechless, but also because he knows what his answer is gonna be. It’s just weird enough to work, he thinks. Just like that first email was weird enough to get him interested in replying.

“Sure. Yeah, I’m in.”

“Are you free now?”

“Oh, now?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

Jaehyun is clever. And Kevin is starting to realize he loves that about him. 

* * *

True to his word, Jaehyun takes him to an amusement park. The bright lights and the vibrant colors around them make it seem like the place still holds some of the magic it did back when they were kids, even though they know better now. Kevin doesn’t even mind the exorbitant price of the admission tickets, nor does he mind that they have to wait in line to buy them, the park as crowded as it always is on a Saturday night. 

Jaehyun looks happy, and Kevin finds that he’s not that far from using that same adjective to describe himself.

They go in as Jaehyun tells him about that one time he got lost from his older cousins at another park when he was 7. The conversation flows naturally from there, like it always has between them: Kevin tells him about the time he nearly lost his glasses riding a roller coaster; Jaehyun asks him about amusement parks in Canada. It’s easy, comforting in a way Kevin really appreciates. When they buy cotton candy, Kevin makes sure they take selfies with it before they dig in, realizing it’s been a while since he last had cotton candy.

Kevin wins a teddy bear with a pretty green bow at the shooting gallery, surprising even himself with how well he does at it. He gifts Jaehyun the bear, very pleased with himself at the sight of Jaehyun walking around hugging a plushie. He says as much, so Jaehyun wins a stuffed Pikachu at another booth and gifts it to Kevin. It’s both ridiculous and sweet, and he knows Jaehyun is thinking the same thing when he meets Kevin’s eyes and they burst into laughter at the same time.

By the time they decide to try the ferris wheel, they have walked around most of the park. They have silly bracelets and plastic rings on their wrists and fingers, Jaehyun has attached a balloon to the arm of his teddy bear, and Kevin has bought them water. The line isn’t that long, and soon they have the view of the entire city as far as the eye can see, the loud noises of the park far below them.

And even though neither of them is thrilled about the height—they’re sitting opposite each other, positioned right in the middle of their respective seats, barely moving, which Kevin thinks is kinda funny—the silence that befalls them is a comfortable one. Kevin thinks Seoul looks beautiful from this high up, a sea of glass and concrete that holds so much heart and life in it that he isn’t really mad about the overwhelming amount of gray he sees. If possible, he thinks the city looks even more alive from up here.

Jaehyun also looks prettier than ever here, silhouetted against the night sky.

Kevin tries not to dwell too much on that. He already knew Jaehyun was beautiful, that shouldn’t come as a surprise now.

Still. 

Jaehyun, with his golden curls, wearing the same leather jacket he was wearing when he took Kevin to the theater over his vanilla sweater, one hand distractedly holding onto the leg of the teddy bear he propped next to him, as if making sure it won’t fall off the seat.

Jaehyun, with his curious eyes and playful smirk, turning to meet Kevin’s gaze.

“Can you see your place from here?”

Kevin shakes his head. He feels a smile tugging at his lips against his better judgement, “I live close to the express terminal, past Seocho, you can’t see it from here.”

“Oh.”

“Can you see yours?”

Jaehyun shakes his head, too. “I wish, though. Can you imagine living in a building like that?” He points to a tall, imponent building to his left, Kevin’s right, that looks about as affordable as a private jet. “You can probably see the entire city from there.”

“Finding a parking spot must be hell, though. Sucks to be them.”

Jaehyun laughs, and Kevin follows. “True.”

Kevin holds his own jacket close to his body. He’s not cold, not enough for it to bother him, anyway, but his hands are itching for something he can’t reach. For a fleeting second, he regrets not sitting next to Jaehyun when he had the chance.

Jaehyun looks at him again. His eyes seem to hold so much. Kevin feels like he could get lost in them if he allowed himself to—in the unspoken words, in the patience, understanding, and affection he sees there. In the very thing that makes Jaehyun so Jaehyun to begin with.

“You didn’t want to be there that night,” Kevin says, not realizing he means to say something until the words are out of his mouth. “At the bar.”

“Oh. Yeah, no. I’m not the biggest fan of bars, to be honest.”

“High five,” Kevin says, offering his palm up. Jaehyun laughs as he gives him a high five. “Why were you there, then?”

“Haknyeonie can be very convincing when he wants to.”

“Oh my God. Is he a Chanhee?”

“Definitely,” Jaehyun agrees promptly. “I don’t know what that means but yes, definitely.”

“Chanhee is always trying to get me to go out more. Which is hilarious, because he likes staying in as much as I do. But when he goes out, he wants me there, too. For some reason.”

“He likes your company,” Jaehyun suggests. “At least that’s what Hak tells me. He probably feels safer with you around, too.”

That hasn’t occurred to Kevin, but it makes sense. A lot, actually.

“Oh.”

“I don’t regret being there that night, though,” Jaehyun says. Simple. Easy. Much like his smile now.

Kevin knows exactly what he means. 

“Yeah, I don’t regret it either.”

When Jaehyun drives him home, they discuss anything from music to TV shows until Jaehyun parks a few feet from the entrance to Kevin’s building. Traffic made the trip much longer than it usually is, but Kevin welcomes the extra time to just talk and enjoy each other’s company. With a warm feeling in his gut, he realizes this was as much fun as the night they went out to see Chicago—if not more.

Which is crazy, when he thinks about it. In what world does an amusement park beat the stage production of Chicago?

In the one where Jaehyun exists, apparently.

“This was great,” he says. Jaehyun hasn’t turned the ignition off, but he does turn off the headlights. 

“I’m glad you think so,” Jaehyun says. “I had a lot of fun.”

“Me too. Maybe dates aren’t as terrifying as I thought.”

Jaehyun laughs at that, “Told you. Dates are whatever we want them to be.”

“Or maybe the trick is having good company,” Kevin watches for Jaehyun’s reaction. The smile he receives for it is so sweet, Kevin melts a little. “Thanks for tonight.”

“Thank _you_ for agreeing to come. I really had a lot of fun, you know. And you’re right, I think it’s all about the company, too.”

Kevin stares at Jaehyun for a beat too long. He’d like to say that he’s weighing the pros and cons of leaning in and catching his lips in a kiss, but truth is, he’s not _thinking_ about anything. He’s _feeling_ , acutely aware of how over the moon he is. How precious this moment is—how fond he is of the man next to him. It’s a lot of feelings at once, a lot to absorb, and he knows that in some roundabout way, he has landed exactly where he needed to be.

He smiles. Jaehyun returns his smile with the warmest eyes Kevin has ever seen.

“Talk to you later?”

“Talk to you later. Good night, Kevin.”

“Good night, hyung. Thanks for the ride.”

* * *

Jaehyun’s book is about loss, friendship, the power of love, and, more importantly, about the competitive world of League of Legends.

Kevin reads most of it over one weekend. 

The first day, he’s reading sprawled on a beach chair with sunglasses on. The only reason he’s left alone and not thrown into the pool like everyone else is that he has his Kindle with him. Chanhee doesn’t have the same luck. He gets thrown into the pool twice by his (possible? likely? Kevin isn’t sure) new boyfriend aided by Changmin before he enacts his revenge by pushing both of them in as well. It’s a lot of screaming and splashing, but Kevin is so focused on the book, he doesn’t pay it any mind.

By the second night, when he comes down for dinner after they have spent the day between the lake and the pool, he has finished reading it. 

Much like Jaehyun’s short stories, the book has a very simple plot: a professional eSports player loses his grandfather, his biggest supporter, the week before an important match, and proceeds to lose the match. In his grief, unsure of his next move, he befriends an aspiring make-up artist who happens to be staying at his neighbor’s for the summer. It’s an unlikely friendship, or so they think at first, but as the story progresses, it’s clear they’re more alike than they thought. Their friendship turns into love and by the end (as Kevin already expected, knowing Jaehyun’s penchant for happy endings) they’re together.

It’s when Kevin is sitting around the dinner table, laughing with his friends, old and new alike, that he realizes that story will stay with him not for the plot, nor for the miracle it worked on him by making him learn LoL terminology, but because it’s as captivating and full of heart as all of Jaehyun’s stories. It’s not about the plot, because it never is with him—it’s about the characters, and their innermost feelings, and the connections they make in life.

In a way, Jaehyun writes about what makes us human. 

Which is very Jaehyun of him, Kevin concludes.

* * *

“Knock knock,” Kevin says. The effect is redundant, because he’s also knocking on the frame of the open door, but it’s fine. 

He’s a bit nervous. It happens. 

“Kevin, hey.”

Jaehyun has been slouching on his chair, but now he sits up a little straighter, runs a hand through his hair. He glances at Wheein, the only other person there aside from him, but she’s already up, snapping her bag close, hair slipping free of the casual bun she wears when she’s at work.

“Don’t worry, I’m practically not here anymore,” she says, picking up her things and walking to the door. She brushes past Kevin with a friendly smile, slowing down to whisper. “Try to get him to drink some water, will you? He won’t listen to me anymore.”

“I can hear you!” Jaehyun calls out. They can hear her soft laugh in the hallway as she makes her way to the elevators.

Jaehyun stands up, too, when Kevin walks into their office. It’s a small room, with two desks, a row of file cabinets pressed against one wall, and a couch.

“I drink plenty of water,” Jaehyun says. “There’s just usually coffee in it.”

“I mean, who am I to judge?” Kevin shrugs. “Are you almost done?”

“For the day? Yeah. I just didn’t see the time, but I’m…” Jaehyun checks the clock on his computer. “Yeah, officially off the clock.”

“Good. I was wondering if you’d like to get something to eat. With me, I mean. Both of us. Dinner.”

“Eloquent,” Jaehyun points out.

“Shut up and appreciate the effort.”

Jaehyun chuckles. He turns off his computer and picks up his bag and phone, throwing his jacket over his shoulder. “I appreciate it. And yes, I’d very much like to.”

It’s been almost two months since that night at the park. They have gone out a few other times, in what they have dubbed their Experimental Dates (capital letters included). It’s been good. Kevin has been working on Jaehyun’s novel, too, trying to offer as much as he can in his position as a real, on the clock editor without being terribly biased at it. Their emails are less frequent but still there—the difference is that they have taken to talking about it face to face, too, so there’s less things to write about by the time they get back to their computers.

Which brings him here. To the legal department. 

The company is about to go on a short holiday break of two weeks and Kevin has suddenly decided he shouldn’t wait until after Christmas to do what he has been wanting to do for ages now.

So when Jaehyun walks around his desk, Kevin doesn’t move out of his way. Jaehyun gives him a curious look, noticing something is up. When Kevin cups his face and presses their lips together in the softest, gentlest of kisses, Jaehyun’s eyes flutter close.

He opens them again only when Kevin has pulled back, watching Jaehyun’s face. Jaehyun’s cheeks are rosy. Kevin finds that so endearing, he can’t help but smile.

“Hi,” Jaehyun breathes out. “Wow. Hi.”

“Hi. Did I just break you?”

“I think you did. Did you just—”

“Kiss you? Yes.”

“Huh.”

Kevin’s heart skips a beat. “Why? Oh. Sorry. Should I not have—”

Jaehyun kisses him this time. Kevin hears a soft thud as something hits the floor before he feels Jaehyun’s hands cupping his face, his touch featherlight. It only occurs to him that Jaehyun dropped his bag and jacket to kiss him a moment later, but by then he’s too busy responding to the kiss to care. 

* * *

“Mom? Mom—Sorry, I know, but I gotta go, someone’s at the door.”

Kevin flings the door open, knowing who’s on the other side. He’s expecting to see Jaehyun’s face but is met instead with the cover of a book. Jaehyun peeks from behind the book, beaming at him. He’s holding up _his_ book, Kevin realizes with a jolt. He waves him in, too excited to hear his mom’s next words on the phone.

“What? Sorry, I got distracted. Yes, I will call him. I promise,” Kevin says to his mom, giving Jaehyun a peck on the lips as he walks in. “Mom, I promise I will. Ok? Ok, I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you too. Bye.” 

He finishes the call and runs to the couch, where Jaehyun has just started to make himself comfortable.

“Are you kidding me? Is that the proof? It’s here already?”

“It is. I don’t know how. I thought we were only gonna get it next week.”

Kevin sits next to him, throwing his legs over Jaehyun’s lap and reaching for the book. Jaehyun rests a hand on Kevin’s knee, watching with a smile as Kevin flips through the book excitedly.

“Oh my God, it’s so gorgeous,” Kevin says.

The cover is cream white with a splash of watercolor that’s reminiscent of butterflies of all colors flying up and away. The title, “ _SUN CHASERS and Other Stories_ ”, is of a deep blue. There’s a yellow band on the top that warns this is an advanced copy and not the final product, but it doesn’t matter—it’s clear the book is as beautiful as they both hoped it would be.

“Hyunjae,” Kevin whispers, touching the pen name on the bottom of the cover. He looks up, ready to comment yet again on how much he loves that name, when he finds Jaehyun’s eyes on him, smiling as if he can’t help it. “What?”

“Nothing,” Jaehyun shakes his head. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“How grateful I am,” Jaehyun says.

Kevin ignores the warmth spreading in his chest, because sure, Jaehyun may be able to pack what seems like a lifetime worth of love and affection in his voice, but that doesn’t mean Kevin knows how to react to it. 

Yet. He hopes he will figure it out, eventually.

“Shush,” he says, flipping through the book again, smiling at the _Translation by Kevin Moon_ on the title page. “You’d do this with or without me.”

“That’s not the point,” Jaehyun says, still as lovingly and sweet as if he were professing his love.

Oh. 

“The point is that I’m grateful for you. Book or not. You make me really happy, Kevin.”

And Kevin could technically continue to peruse the book, act as if Jaehyun isn’t opening his heart completely unprompted, but that’s not what he wants to do. He knows, when he puts down the book and meets Jaehyun’s eyes, that there’s no way he can ignore how hard his heart is beating against his ribcage, begging to speak up.

He has no idea when he went from comic relief side character to the protagonist of his own rom-com, but he’s not complaining. 

“You make me really happy too, baby. Incredibly so.”

“Do I?” Jaehyun squeezes his knee gently, distractedly, eyes searching Kevin’s face. “Because I didn’t think I could be happier about seeing my name on that cover but your reaction to it just now made everything—I don’t know. Ten times more worth it.”

Kevin leans in to kiss him, but he can’t stop smiling, “That is very sweet.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Very published author of you, too,” he says, glad to see that gets a laugh out of Jaehyun.

“I mean it, though. Every word.”

Kevin can see it in Jaehyun’s eyes. It’s the same thing that he feels tugging at his heart, putting a smile on his face, encouraging him to bring his hand up to touch the soft skin of Jaehyun’s cheek. It’s the same thing he feels when they kiss, when Jaehyun squeezes his knee again, a point of contact expanding into a million galaxies, making Kevin feel happier than he remembers ever being.

“I know, love.”

This time, _love_ is not just an endearment. It’s a spoiler.

* * *

**from:** moon.kevin@mujigae.co.kr  
**to:** lee.jaehyun@mujigae.co.kr; ju.haknyeon@mujigae.co.kr   
**cc:** choi.chanhee@mujigae.co.kr  
**subject:** Re: [Points of Contact] Printing schedule + Release event details

Hi all, 

I know, another email? But this one is quick, I swear. Just a couple of updates.

First, reminder that the event has been pushed to **2p.m.**!!!!! In case we all missed the desperate emails from Marketing. They made me promise I’d remind all of you as many times as I possibly can. So there you go. 

Also, the reviews from the ARCs are still coming and they’re boosting pre sales, just like Chanhee predicted. The interview with YP should be another boost, it comes out on Friday. So the projections from the last meeting are still valid, the copies we have should cover initial sales, but according to the folks from Sales, we’re doing much better than we thought we would when we decided on the first print numbers. Which is amazing. 

Last but not least, Lee Jaehyun: I couldn’t be more proud of you. Remember when you used to refer to yourself as “not a writer”? Well, look where that got you. 

Talk to all of you soon!

Best,

**_Kevin Moon_ **

Editor  
Mujigae Books  
151, Bongeunsaro, Gangnam, Seoul 


End file.
